SEOUL, South Korea (news agencies) — South Korea’s anti-corruption agency said Tuesday that a court has issued warrants to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and search his office.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials said in a statement that the Seoul Western District Court issued warrants to detain Yoon over his stunning yet short-lived martial law decree earlier this month and to search the presidential office in central Seoul.
The agency said it is investigating whether his declaration of martial law amounted to rebellion.
Yoon’s powers have been suspended since the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14. The Constitutional Court is to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate him.
But he has since ignored repeated requests by investigative authorities to appear for questioning and allow them to search his office.
Yoon has the presidential privilege of immunity from criminal prosecution, but it does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.
The anti-corruption agency said it has no immediate plans on how to proceed with the court-issued warrants. A lawyer for Yoon denounced the agency’s request for the warrants on Monday, arguing it lacked the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges.
Many observers earlier doubted that authorities would forcefully detain him because of the potential for clashes with the presidential security service. The security service has blocked attempts by investigators to search Yoon’s office, citing a law that prohibits searches on sites with state secrets without approval from those in charge of those areas.
Yoon’s imposition of martial law lasted only six hours but triggered huge political turmoil, halting high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets. Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly to block a vote on his decree, but enough lawmakers managed to enter the assembly chamber to overturn it unanimously.
Yoon has argued his decree was a legitimate act of governance, calling it a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which he has called “a monster” and “anti-state forces” that has used its legislative majority to impeach top officials, undermine the government’s budget, and which he claims sympathizes with North Korea.
The country’s political crisis deepened last Friday, when the Democratic Party and other small opposition parties voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo as well over wrangling over his refusal to fill in three justice seats at the Constitutional Court. Observers say adding more justices could affect the court’s ruling on Yoon’s impeachment.
The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, has become South Korea’s new interim leader.
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